"Then they create an account for you on their fake phishing website, they will ask you to top up that account with a small sum using UPI pay. Then they add him to a WhatsApp or Telegram group and claim that he is negotiating. You will make a profit of 11.25% and then when you invest more they pay a profit of 22%. After a few weeks of trading, they disappear," says Jain.
Pratik is not alone, more than 300 people in Gujarat have filed complaints with the 1930 cybercrime helpline about such fraudulent deals over the past year. Gujarat is not new to crypto scams.
One of the first known cryptocurrency scams to come to light was when a Surat-based business entity floated bitcoin called BitConnect, which went bankrupt in early 2018. Gullible investors, it is estimated that they lost close to Rs 500 crores due to the scam. The promoter disappeared.
"Not many came forward to register their complaints for fear of IT raids back then," says a senior CID (crime) official from Gujarat. BitConnect's promoters issued a cryptocurrency token, "BCC," and launched a global trading and lending platform for investors in 2016. The scam came to light after a controversial kidnapping case.
Vishal rabariDeputy Commissioner of Police (Cybercrime) Rajkot, says: "Usually, victims receive calls from unknown women, who post their fake profiles on social media. These women then develop a friendship with their victims. These women claim that they are operating from a foreign country." country. They lure their victims into investing in cryptocurrencies with the promise of high returns. Victims are forced to download mobile apps that take over the victim's device and transfer the money."
Rabari says that a dozen cases have been registered in the cybercell in recent months.
In the city of Vadodara, Hardik Makadia, ACP (cyber crime) explains that he receives three to four complaints every month: โCertain gangs lure people into investing in cryptocurrency and then disappear with their money. people under the pretext of investing in cryptocurrencies."
The Vadodara cybercrime arrested four people in December last year for deceiving a person under the guise of selling bitcoins. The victim had transferred Rs 1.41 lakh to a bank account to buy bitcoins, but the gang disappeared with the money.
In July 2021, a Vadodara businessman lost Rs 2 crore after a gang promised to help him start a bitcoin business and tricked him.
(With input from Ashish Chauhan and Paul John)
